Do dogs know when they're being laughed at?

Question

Sometimes when I give our dog a haircut, I end up making her look goofy which makes me laugh at her. My wife says that's mean, but I don't think the dog knows what laughing means. What do you think? Do dogs feel bad when we laugh at them?

Answer 1

Dogs definitely pick up on the emotions and feelings of their owners. They use your mood as a gauge for how they should feel. If you're scared, they will either get scared or go into "protect" mode. If you're happy, they will get playful.

In terms of laughing at your dog, your dog doesn't have a sense of self identity like a person does. Did you ever see a dog look in a mirror? They don't even always recognize themselves. So, if you're laughing at a haircut, the dog doesn't have any clue what you're laughing at. It's just getting a sense of your mood.

Be kind to your animal and treat it with love. If your animal is giving you joy, laugh. It will respond with joy also.

Answer 2

They know what happiness is so they may turn laughing into good attention..dogs are smarter than you realise...next time give the wife a goofy hair cut and see if the dog laughs..and if the dog does laugh...you know it understands.

Answer 3

Dogs are not human, duh! They don't have the range of emotions that humans do. They don't laugh so they do not have any concept of that. Dog do have likes and dislikes. It likes it when you are happy because good things come from that, such as ear scratches or play time, this is learned. If you laugh at a dog and slap it on the nose then guess what it has learned? The one answerer that said its dog knows when it is bad because it slinks away. That behavior was learned because previously that behavior had resulted in it being yelled at or it received something it did not like. Learned behavior nothing more.

Answer 4

Some dogs have a complex...yeah it can hurt them. Treat your animal the way you would want to be treated. How would you feel if someone laughed at your bad cut? It might also teach YOU a little compassion and tolerance.

Answer 5

Defiantly! Even tho dogs don't react to emotions as we humans do, they still have feelings.

Example, when you see a dog with the mouth slightly open, toung kinda sticking, and breathing normally, not panting, that's the dog's way of smiling.,

When you see a dog play with their eyebrows, they are trying to figure you out, their confused or learning.

When you see a dog with their head down, tail down, and looking up to you, the dog is ashamed.

when a dog buries it's head, it's sad..

They see you pointing and laughing, They hear the laughter as you would if someone mocked you, and familiar words that the dog understands comes up, and eventually the dog will understand its being mocked. and the dog will be shamed.

Treat your dog like your own kid. You wouldn't point and laugh at your offspring, please don't do it to a dog.

Answer 6

I don't know. Whenever we laughed with my brother's dog, she would put her paws over her eyes like she was so embarrassed. I like to think dogs can feel humility, but I've been told I give dogs too much credit for having human feelings.

Answer 7

This is ridiculous. I can't believe so many people are humanizing their animals and saying yes. No wonder people thing dog enthusiasts are freaks.

Dogs don't understand things like "mockery." And they never will. They're dogs. If they see you laughing, the limit of their understanding is that they know you are happy. Anything beyond that, and you're just humanizing them.

Repeat after me, everybody. They're dogs.

D-O-G-S.

Dogs.

Answer 8

I hope my dogs know i laugh at them. They do some pretty goofy stuff.

Answer 9

I just looked at my dog and started laughing at her...she gave me a mean look

Answer 10

I think they do. When our dog does something silly and we laugh at him he looks at us and keeps on doing it. He likes to make us laugh. At least I think he does.